1.

A compiler translates the code written in one language to some other language without
changing the meaning of the program. It is also expected that a compiler should make
the target code efficient and optimized in terms of time and space.
2. 7 phases of a Compiler:
Lexical Analysis - The first phase of scanner works as a text scanner. This phase scans the
source code as a stream of characters and converts it into meaningful lexemes. Lexical
analyzer represents these lexemes in the form of tokens as: <token-name, attribute-
value>
Syntax Analysis - The next phase is called the syntax analysis or parsing. It takes the
token produced by lexical analysis as input and generates a parse tree (or syntax tree).
In this phase, token arrangements are checked against the source code grammar, i.e.
the parser checks if the expression made by the tokens is syntactically correct.
Semantic Analysis - Semantic analysis checks whether the parse tree constructed follows
the rules of language. For example, assignment of values is between compatible data
types, and adding string to an integer. Also, the semantic analyzer keeps track of
identifiers, their types and expressions; whether identifiers are declared before use or
not etc. The semantic analyzer produces an annotated syntax tree as an output.
Intermediate Code Generation - After semantic analysis the compiler generates an
intermediate code of the source code for the target machine. It represents a program
for some abstract machine. It is in between the high-level language and the machine
language. This intermediate code should be generated in such a way that it makes it
easier to be translated into the target machine code.
Code Optimization - The next phase does code optimization of the intermediate code.
Optimization can be assumed as something that removes unnecessary code lines, and
arranges the sequence of statements in order to speed up the program execution
without wasting resources (CPU, memory).
Code Generation - In this phase, the code generator takes the optimized representation
of the intermediate code and maps it to the target machine language. The code
generator translates the intermediate code into a sequence of (generally) re-locatable
machine code. Sequence of instructions of machine code performs the task as the
intermediate code would do.
Symbol Table - It is a data-structure maintained throughout all the phases of a compiler.
All the identifier's names along with their types are stored here. The symbol table makes
it easier for the compiler to quickly search the identifier record and retrieve it. The
symbol table is also used for scope management.
3. Lexical analysis is the first phase of a compiler. It takes the modified source code from
language preprocessors that are written in the form of sentences. The lexical analyzer
breaks these syntaxes into a series of tokens, by removing any whitespace or comments
in the source code. If the lexical analyzer finds a token invalid, it generates an error. The
lexical analyzer works closely with the syntax analyzer. It reads character streams from
 the source code, checks for legal tokens, and passes the data to the syntax analyzer
when it demands.
4. An NFA is a Nondeterministic Finite Automaton. Nondeterministic means it can
transition to, and be in, multiple states at once.
A DFA is a Deterministic Finite Automaton. Deterministic means that it can only be in,
and transition to, one state at a time.